Located on the grounds of old Fire Station No. 27, the LAFD Museum is a striking tribute to the men and women who’ve defended our lives and property from the threat of fire.

The Los Angeles Fire Department Museum and Memorial is located at Old Engine Co. No. 27, also known as Fire Station No. 27, on Cahuenga Boulevard in Hollywood.

The museum houses old fire engines and fire apparatus, some dating from the 1880s.

On-site babysitting available.

The building was named a Los Angeles Cultural-Heritage Monument in 1976 and was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.

The Los Angeles Fire Department Museum opened in October 2001—the month after the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City, New York, and the Pentagon in Arlington County, Virginia.

The walls of the museum are filled with historical photographs on the department’s history. When the Los Angeles Times published an article on the museum in 2003, it wrote: “With its high ceilings, six old-fashioned brass fire poles and nearly a dozen antique fire engines, the Los Angeles Fire Department Museum looks like a set from a Hollywood back lot. … But Fire Station 27 has a greater purpose: keeping the flame of L.A. Fire Department history.”

The Los Angeles Fire Department Historical Society also operates three other museums—the Los Angeles Harbor Fire Museum, located at 638 Beacon St., San Pedro; the Plaza Fire House near Olvera Street in downtown Los Angeles; and the African American Fire Fighter Museum, located at 1401 S. Central Avenue.

Going down…

…going up.

Of course Smokey is represented well.

Old School

In front of the museum is the Fallen Firefighter Memorial. It includes a memorial wall with the names of every known Los Angeles firefighter who has died while on active duty.

The memorial also includes a series of life-size bronze statues depicting five firefighters. Two of the firefighters are depicted attacking a fire, while a fallen firefighter is attended to by a fourth figure. The fifth figure is the fire captain, shown making a command decision and also caring for the downed firefighter.